State inspector general launches probe of Causeway Commission

The state inspector general's office has begun an investigation into how the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is run, asking officials to provide records that, among other things, show how the commission overseeing the bridge spends the public's money, how it awards contracts and who gets paid for doing what.

A representative from the inspector general's office paid a visit Monday to Kyle France, the commission's chairman, and gave him a list of the records she wants to see, France said Tuesday in response to an inquiry by The Times-Picayune. Inspector General Stephen B. Street Jr. confirmed through a spokeswoman Tuesday that an investigation into the commission's practices is under way, but he declined to comment further.

France said he gave the list to Cheryl Lambert, the Causeway's finance director, and told her to make the records available to the inspector general's office. There is no timeline to provide the records, he said.

The inspector general is seeking contracts and contract files, project bid files, maintenance and capital improvement files, vendor files and invoices, check registers and bank statements, personnel records that are available to the public, and minutes from the commission's monthly meetings, said Robert Lambert, the bridge's general manager. The records should include those from November 2004 to the present, he said.

Both France and Lambert said they believe the investigation stems from a request by state Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, who submitted a resolution in May asking the state legislative auditor to conduct a performance audit of the Causeway Commission to determine how it spends the toll money it collects from commuters.

A spokeswoman for the legislative auditor's office said Tuesday that the office already has begun its audit in response to LaBruzzo's bill.

LaBruzzo said the two matters are unrelated, noting that the legislative auditor performs an accountant's tasks, while the inspector general's office seeks to eliminate mismanagement and corruption in the public sector.

"I'm not aware that one thing has to do with the other -- that my legislation has anything to do with the IG, " he said. "I would hate to think there's anything criminal going on there, but if there is something there, it's our obligation to find out what it is and root it out."

People have hurled accusations at the commission and Lambert for months, and France said he thinks the inspector general's investigation will show that those implications are unfounded.

"I'm glad they're doing it, to be honest with you, " he said. "They're going to be inundated with documentation, and that's a good thing."

Lambert has been under fire almost nonstop since March, when word got around that he had been meeting with representatives from the Shaw Group to discuss the company's interest in buying or leasing the bridge. He said he never intended to try to sell or lease the bridge and met with the Shaw Group only as a favor to Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard.

Lambert said he knew the Causeway Commission did not have the authority to sell or lease the bridge and said he believed such a sale would require legislative approval, consent from the Jefferson and St. Tammany parish councils and probably a public vote. The conversation with Shaw soon ground to a halt, and the state attorney general's office later confirmed Lambert's opinion.

LaBruzzo then filed a bill to abolish the Causeway Police Department and transfer law enforcement duties on the bridge to State Police. The effort was unsuccessful.

Causeway officials became embroiled in controversy again a few weeks later when the public learned that Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price appeared to have gotten special treatment during a traffic stop on the bridge in April.

The two Causeway police officers who stopped Price failed to test him for alcohol after he crashed through a tollbooth barrier, drove to the bridge's first crossover without headlights at night and admitted he had been drinking. Price was not ticketed for careless driving until two weeks later, after an inquiry from the Metropolitan Crime Commission.

The fiasco resulted in the two officers losing their jobs, as well as Police Chief Felix Loicano and another supervisor. An independent investigation commissioned by France revealed that even though Loicano called Lambert while Price waited on the bridge, the two men concluded their conversation after the officers let Price leave with his son-in-law.

Lambert said he's ready to see the inspector general's investigation through, and he expects the results to reveal that he is in the clear.

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Christine Harvey can be reached at charvey@timespicayune.com or 985.645.2853.